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Interview: The physicist who stood up to the pope

By Stefania Maurizi

In January, a group of Italian physicists working at Rome’s La Sapienza university made headlines when they protested against the pope being invited to speak at the opening of the academic year. The pope cancelled his visit, unleashing an angry debate about the influence of the church on science and society. Carlo Bernardini, an emeritus professor of physics, helped lead the protest. Critical of the church’s attitude to issues from reproduction to pain treatment for the terminally ill, he tells Stefania Maurizi why it is time to fight back.